A strategic business model for the introduction of Mobile Data Services in an emerging economy – focus on the South African market

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the critical success factors behind the successful introduction of Mobile Data Services to the South African market. An evaluation of the history of telecommunications found that progress in the global telecommunications industry has been characterised by innovation in technological hardware, followed by innovation in policies. Such innovation mainly contributed to the development of voice services in the mobile telecommunications industry. Wireless technology is no longer simply an extension of fixed line voice communication, but a mature independent technology. This maturity is also reflected by the declining state of revenues generated by voice services. Market incumbents expect data services to provide increased revenues. The current wireless industry business value chain is evolving and becoming more complex due to new incumbents in the market and new relationships that are formed between new and existing incumbents. Although a new structured value chain is presented, reality indicates a diffusion of functions within the value chain. The study has identified a number of the Critical Success Factors, which will be required to facilitate the introduction of Mobile Data Services to the South African market. Central to determining these Critical Success Factors is the design of a structured framework or model, which allows for this. The basic elements of this model are constructed from core concepts in the market, which became elevated during the literature study and industry survey. The model demonstrates the need to integrate the various components into a single coherent strategy, which is imperative for determining the Critical Success Factors. Copyright 2004, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Benn, LJ 2004, A strategic business model for the introduction of Mobile Data Services in an emerging economy – focus on the South African market, MSc dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-06102005-093913 / >